Tom Cruise, the charismatic and invincible action star, dons a new mask for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s upcoming dark comedy-satire, ‘Digger.’ The four-time Academy Award nominee revealed that he put on layers of makeup and costumes to communicate through physicality. Making his first non-franchise film in almost a decade, the 64-year-old found his lenses, colour, and method to deliver his performance.Here’s a closer breakdown of how Tom Cruise donned a whole new role for ‘Digger.’
Tom Cruise shares how Alejandro González Iñárritu helped him with his new character
Tom Cruise knew his priority while exploring the dramatic role of the eccentric oil baron, who tries to convince the world that he is the ultimate saviour of the problem he himself created. During a press conference at Warner Bros. in Burbank, the actor said, per Entertainment Weekly, “My process is: I’m absorbing, I’m absorbing, I’m absorbing. With the body, we’re communicating a story… I want people to be immersed in a story,” before adding, “When we’re looking for characters, we’re looking for humor, drama, certain constructs — how do we communicate this?”
Detailing the costume colour and type of fabrics, he recalled all the decisions he thought of, stating, “[The] colour of the cowboy boots. What are my shorts like? The sets, the color of the sets. They’re beautiful on every single level… You look at the taste of this man. It’s very special,” adding that he even put fake teeth to complete the character.
Furthermore, Tom Cruise expressed that every project and character has its own rhythm and music, including behaviour, movement, and the way makeup integrates with the drama. “So the behaviour of a character, the movement of a character, these are things that as we’re looking at the makeup side. As you’re developing, you’ve got to go, ‘Is this our tone? Is it drama? Is it comedy? Is it too much?’ You’re dialling it in,” the veteran actor said, concluding that acting is a lifetime journey of learning. He added that the director helped him find the rhythm, “Alejandro understands music, and that’s the universal language that we’re all finding.”
‘Digger’ will be released on October 2, 2026.
